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Porsche 996 Carrera 4 Cabrio (996 610)
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Some great drives and holidays with the 996: June 2017, il Pellicano |
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A 911 Cabrio is in its element in the sun-soaked roads of the Argentario peninsula, the Zenith Blue bodywork sparkling in the Mediterrean sunlight |
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Friday 30 June 2017, Imola, Concours d'Elegance, BH314KP with a younger, powerful sister: Alessandro Scagliarini's beautiful 991 GTS |
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Saturday 1st July, Varano: Lining up in the paddock of Varano's exciting Porsche meeting organized (splendidly) by Andrea Rota and friends. A Cabrio is not a track car, but it behaved very well anyway |
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2018 |
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Winterreise |
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I kept the 996 in her heated garage during most of the 2017-2018 winter. But then, just when snow was approaching, a failure in one of (otherwise excellent) Vredestein Wintraks on my 4_Matic Mercedes forced me to ask for help at Porsche Italia for a fresh set of winter tyres. Dr Plutino was up to the task and in a short time my 996 was shod with a fresh set of Porsche-spec Pirelli 'Winter' |
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Deep grooves, soft rubber: that's what I look for in a high-performance winter tire, and Wednesday 28 February the 996 got out of Porsche Italia like this.... |
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...and not a moment too soon, as the following morning, Thursday 1 March 2018, weather was like this.... |
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...and then it got worse when, at 5 pm, I drove the 996 out of my hospital's parking lot |
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That's why I love (well, why we ALL love) 911s; even if it's a Cabrio, just fit it with the right, Porsche-specified equipment and fittings and this car will ALWAYS be up to any task |
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One month later: 1st-3rd April 2018, Villa d'Este |
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A BIG change from the picture above, isn't it? But only a few days passed between the snowfall in Bologna and a pleasant drive to Villa d'Este to celebrate in style Anna's birthday. Sunday 1st April (Easter) many highways and byways were clogged; we just dropped the hood and enjoyed some sunshine while getting to Villa d'Este |
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Zenithblau sparkles under the arches of VdE's main entrance |
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The large room where the chocolate statues and sculptures, many of whom were elaborate, one-off Easter eggs, were put on display to the guests of the hotel at noon, Sunday |
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An Easter egg worthy of Depero |
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There's not much that can beat the sheer pleasure of having lunch lakeside in a sunny Spring day Alcuni piatti del menu (8 portate) |
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'Astice, Carciofi, Mela Verde e Cipolla di Tropea' 'Lobster, artichokes, green apple and Tropea red onion' |
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'Tortelli di Caprino, Asparagi, Uovo Marinato e Tartufo Nero' Goat cheese tortelli, asparagus, marinated egg and black truffle |
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'Sorbetto alla Rossini, crumble al pistacchio e croccante al pompelmo rosa' Rossini sorbet, pistachio crumble and pink grapefruit tuile |
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'Lombatina e panzarotto di agnello, spuma al pepe, zucca caramellata e amaranto' Sirloin and panzerotto of lamb, pepper foam, caramelize pumpkin and amaranth Vini: Pinot Nero Riserva Sant Valentin, St. Michael-Eppan Vernaccia di San Gimignano Sant Elena, Teruzzi & Puthod Moscato Bricco Quaglia, La Spinetta |
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Happiness |
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Villa d'Este's docklands |
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Our suite |
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A safe parking |
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Good company: a pristine 350 SLC |
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Mooonshine on the terrazza.... |
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...and on the lake |
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A very confortable bed, worthy of a King and Queen |
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Monday 2nd April, a glorious day |
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Borsalino is the perfect hat for the lake. Accept no substitute |
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200 meters above the Lake Como |
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Marco, Axel, Dorotea |
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Anna and Dorotea |
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Dressing for dinner |
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Twilight |
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A great dinner needs many glasses |
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The only way to fit in the 911 our bags, 2 large Easter eggs, one set of chimney tools, coats etc, was to lower the top and drop it all inside. It worked, proving that a 911 is almost all that 2 people can ever need to travel |
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Driving back from Cernobbio, BH314KP reached the 60,000 kms mark |
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How did it all began? |
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A great book about the 996.....
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